


downpour

by chlodine



Series: from tumblr [2]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, chloe puts the pathetic in pathetic fallacy skfhdjhgfkd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 08:42:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16092077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlodine/pseuds/chlodine
Summary: Chloe has a bone to pick with the water cycle.





	downpour

**Author's Note:**

> [original.](http://chloedeckerr.tumblr.com/post/175677350326/chloe-has-always-hated-rain-its-not-uncommon-in)
> 
>  
> 
> i miss them. the ao3 tag is making me sad

 

Chloe has always hated rain. It’s not uncommon in her circles, considering the job requirements. Piss poor visibility and slippery handholds don’t, in fact, go hand in hand with treasure hunting. It also doesn’t help that whichever higher power there is apparently has a sense of humour and a liking for poetry. Pathetic fallacy, it seems, is much more than a literary device when it comes to her.

Age nine, from the kitchen window, she watched her father push their luggage and bags into the back of a dirtied yellow taxi. He did nothing to shield himself from the rain, so when he came in and soaked the carpet through and her mum didn’t scold him for it, she knew instantly something was wrong.

When he whispered to her mum in an undecipherable tone before kissing her once ardently, she didn’t pull a face or make a fuss out of whining “ _ewww_ ”. Afterward, he picked her up and placed her onto the island, bending over to tug a pair of polka dotted wellies over her feet.

Her mum grabbed her hand, palms damp from touching her father’s soaked through shirt, and led her to the taxi, huddled under an umbrella that could only keep Chloe and half of her mum dry.

Chloe squinted and waved out the window, kneeling on the backseat, while her dad watched from the porch, slowly dissolving into the downpour.

Later, in Australia, her mum hurried into the house after working two four-hour shifts in a row, dripping water everywhere, and dumped their mail on the coffee table. Chloe usually ignored it, but this time there was a soggy cardboard box on top of all the envelopes. Inside, a dusty statue of Ganesh.

It rained at his funeral, too.

The list goes on: breaking up with someone for the first time, failing one of her biggest heists in the early days, losing Nate the first time, breaking her arm having slipped off a three-meter tall cliff face.

And, of course, India again, with Nadine this time. It turned out okay in the end, sure, but her dignity had taken quite a beating and the times it rained did not help in the slightest.

It’s been almost a year since then and they’ve spent most of it in the dry — first, digging holes in the Sahara desert, then sunny South Africa, and finally California. Needless to say, it’s been great.

Of course, she knows it would’ve had to rain eventually. The water cycle and all that.

Plus, they’re in London, where Chloe’s apartment is. It’s barely a drizzle, started sometime within the five minutes she’s been in the hazy state between dozing and awake. Eyes squinted open, but body too tired to muster the energy to actually get up.

Nadine, on the other hand, is sat up, bare back curving and tensing deliciously as she stretches out with a barely muffled yawn.

She shuffles out of the room a moment later, leaving Chloe to roll onto her back and gather the strength to sit up. Another thing, rain makes all things lethargic and Chloe does not have the patience for it.

She’s wiggling into a pair of shorts and a ratty band shirt from her teens when Nadine returns, a mug of coffee the size of the Earth cupped in her hands.

Her boy shorts are riding low on the smooth V at her hips and her chest is unabashedly naked until she catches sight of a leering Chloe and flushes.

“Where’s my shirt?” she asks in a voice that’s rough with a just-woken-up quality.

“Probably needs a wash. I’ll find one of mine,” Chloe replies, grinning wider. She fishes out an old button up but holds it to her chest. “Are you sure?”

Nadine gives her a wholly unimpressed look.

She shrugs. “Just checking.”

“What did I do to deserve such a considerate partner?” Nadine deadpans, slipping the shirt on over her shoulders.

“Beats me.”

Nadine snorts.

Feeling sluggish, she disappears into the bathroom to dunk her face under the tap and brush her teeth. The sight of Nadine’s toothbrush in the cup by the sink prompts a wide grin across her face. The handle is a sturdy, navy blue plastic, one she had bought specifically to match her red one just to see what Nadine would say.

It’s newly wet, so she knows Nadine’s already been in. Still, she asks, “Did you find your toothbrush?”

Nadine gives her that look again, but her lips twitch upwards into an amused tilt. “That’s cute, Frazer.”

“Ouch. Eat a girl out and she repays you by calling you by your surname.”

“I already returned the favour and, if my memory serves me right, you enjoyed it.”

Chloe hums. “I did.”

Before Nadine can reply, however, a crack of lightning whips across the sky, a low rumble of thunder rolling by only moments later.

To her surprise, Nadine turns and strides across the room. One hand still holding the mug and the other on the sill, she leans closer, almost pressing her face to the window in a childlike wonder.

With the way Nadine’s built, Chloe thinks she’s tensed up at first, nervous. When she approaches, she sees that Nadine looks entirely at peace, not a worry in the world. She takes a sip from her mug and cranes around to watch Chloe close the distance.

Suddenly, Chloe is overcome by the urge to touch Nadine. To just be in contact with her, to make sure she’s real and present and  _not_ leaving or breaking.

Nadine turns back to the window, sighing softly through her nose when Chloe’s fingers smooth over the tense lines of her shoulders.

Accommodating as she usually is with matters that are important, she moves her elbows so Chloe can weave her arms around her middle and leans back, into Chloe’s warmth. She lifts her jaw, smiling, when Chloe places a kiss in the crook of her neck.

“I wanted to see the zoo today,” she says after a moment.

Chloe grunts an acknowledgement and looks out the window with great scorn. “This certainly puts a damper on things.”

Nadine turns her head, her chin skidding at the side of Chloe’s head. “Damper. Funny.”

Chloe laughs. The tightness in her chest dissipates when she feels the curve of Nadine’s lips at the crown of her head.

Chloe’s pleased to realize that while Nadine had rolled the sleeves up, she hadn’t bothered actually buttoning the shirt up. Her fingers unlock over Nadine’s stomach and she palms the muscles there.

Chuckling, Nadine places her mug by the window and twists in Chloe’s arms. One side of the shirt is skewed, to the side, and her hair pushes up against the pane. She looks sloppy in a way that one does when they’re alone at home. Chloe calls this spectacular look: mouthwatering and messy.

Nadine slings her arms around Chloe’s neck, pulling her in for a deep kiss.

“Hm, good morning, love,” Chloe mumbles against the slant of Nadine’s mouth.

“Good morning,” she replies with a beam, pulling back to finish off her coffee.

Then, her grin turns devilish and before Chloe can mention it, she grabs the back of her thighs and hikes her up.

Chloe yelps, one hand grabbing tightly at the meat of Nadine’s shoulder to keep steady.

“Give a girl some warning next time,” she huffs, faux grumpy up until the moment Nadine’s hands slip under her shirt. “Handsy in the morning, aren’t you?”

“You like it.”

Nadine does a slow spin when it’s clear Chloe’s stable enough, legs hooked around her waist.

Chloe laughs, pitched high with glee. “You seem to know a lot about what I apparently like, I’m beginning to think you fancy me.”

“Ja, well,” Nadine says before sitting down on the edge of the bed with Chloe straddling her lap. She softens a little. “I know you don’t like the rain, so.”

At that, Chloe stills. She inhales deeply, the smell of her own shampoo in Nadine’s hair warming her a little to this particular conversation.

“Had some bad times in the rain.”

Nadine leans back on one arm as a prop, the other drawing circles on Chloe’s back.

“It’s in the past though.” Chloe smiles and reaches out to push some hair away from Nadine’s face. “You are an amazing woman, you know that?”

“It’s not—” she starts, then stops when Chloe gives a hard roll of her eyes and puts a firm finger to her lips.

“Take the compliment.”

She smiles again, this time for another reason. She very pointedly puts a hand on Nadine’s exposed breast.

“Y’know, we  _could_  have good times in the rain.”

Nadine chuckles. “You’d like that.”

“I’ll sum it up for you, china,” Chloe says, dipping down to place a kiss above the brown of her areola. “I like  _you_.”

The rain isn’t so bad after all, and if this is some kind of long overdue apology from the universe, well, Chloe accepts it wholeheartedly.

 

**Author's Note:**

> naughty dog confirm tll2 challenge


End file.
